WO2023147894A1

WO2023147894A1 - Method for harvesting fruit of the macauba palm

Info

Publication number: WO2023147894A1
Application number: PCT/EP2022/074079
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter Eisner; Magdalena SPICHER; Andreas STÄBLER; Stefanie MITTERMAIER; Isabel MURANYI; Gabriele DOER; Sérgio Henrique DE TOLEDO E SILVA; Roseli APARECIDA FERRARI; Alexandre MARTINS MOREIRA; Lidiane BATAGLIA DA SILVA; Carlos Colombo
Original assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung; Instituto De Tecnologia De Alimentos
Priority date: 2022-02-04
Filing date: 2022-08-30
Publication date: 2023-08-10

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for harvesting fruit of the macauba palm which has one or more fruit bunches comprising the fruit. The fruit are separated from the fruit bunches still growing on the palm and are collected. The method is characterized in that an unrestricted impact of the fruit against the ground upon separating the fruit is prevented by one or more catching or damping devices. The catching or damping devices are preferably equipped and/or arranged such that upon striking the catching or damping devices, the fruit are deflected and optionally guided into a collecting or transporting device. The gentle harvesting process using the aforementioned method allows a high-quality pressed pulp oil with a low acid content and a low degree of oxidation to be obtained from the harvested fruit.

Description

Method of Harvesting Macauba Palm Fruits

field of use

The invention relates to a method for the gentle and selective harvesting of fruits from the Macauba palm (Acrocomia ssp.), in which the fruits are separated from the fruit bundles that have still grown on the palm and are collected.

State of the art

Due to the intensification of climate change, the need for a bio-economy and due to the limited availability of fossil raw materials, the demand for vegetable oils is increasing.

In terms of volume, the most important vegetable oils in 2020 were palm oil (75 million tons), soybean oil (57 million tons), rapeseed oil (28 million tons), sunflower oil (19 million tons) and palm kernel oil (8.5 million tons). In total, around 210 million tons of vegetable oil were produced in 2020. The sharp increase in production in recent years of 6 to 7 million tons per year means that by 2040 more than 330 million tons of vegetable oil will have to be made available worldwide.

The cultivation of palm oil and soya has a high environmental impact, since these raw materials are cultivated in the tropics on cleared rainforest areas. Should the amount of 120 million tons of additional vegetable oil forecast for 2040 be achieved through the cultivation of soya, the development of 266 million hectares of new land would be required, and an area of over 40 million hectares would be required for the cultivation of oil palms needed. Since the currently available agricultural land has already been largely exhausted for food production as pasture and arable land, these additional quantities could only be made available if new areas were opened up through the clearing of rain forest. However, this should be avoided at all costs for reasons of environmental and climate protection.

The Macauba palm could open up a new sustainable way of providing large quantities of vegetable oil. Macauba is a species of palm tree native to Central and South America. It develops fruits weighing 25 to 60 g each on up to 8 infructescences (fruit bundles) per palm tree, each infructescence contains several 100 individual fruits and can reach a weight of over 25 kg. The fruits of the Macauba palm consist of different compartments, an outer hard shell, underneath which is a pulp containing oil, hydrogen and fiber, and a core (endocarp) that contains a fat and protein-rich endosperm (almond) inside . The oil can be obtained from the pulp using classic pressing and extraction processes, and the kernel oil from the almond kernel can also be separated by pressing and extraction with solvents. Because of their property profile, oil and seed oil from Macauba fruits could be used as sustainable cooking oil.

In addition to economic advantages, such as a high oil yield and very good properties of the oil, the cultivation of Macauba palms also opens up advantages in the area of sustainable agriculture. In this way, cultivation on existing pastures outside of the rainforest areas is possible, which makes clearing the rainforest unnecessary. Macauba palms also make a valuable economic and ecological contribution as part of integrated agricultural production on pasture land. The roots of the palm trees strengthen the soil, protect against erosion and store moisture in the soil. The palm trees bind up to 27 t CO2 per hectare as biomass (roots, trunk, fruit, leaves) and increase the productivity of pasture grass due to the higher moisture in the soil and the shade of the palm trees. Due to the higher amount of grass the number of animals can be significantly increased without interfering with the ecological balance of the pasture. This increases the area-specific production of grazing animals on pastures planted with Macauba palms, which reduces the environmental impact of animal husbandry and, due to the high CCp binding of the palm trees, leads to a positive CO2 balance of grazing animal production overall. Other agricultural commodities such as coffee or cassava can also benefit from the advantages of integrated agricultural production. For example, the yield and quality of coffee or cassava can be significantly increased by cultivating Macauba palms.

Despite a comparably high oil yield (2 to 5 tons of oil per ha and year), Macauba palms have a significantly lower water requirement than classic oil palms. As a result, this palm species also grows very well in temperate and semi-arid regions outside of the tropics such as . B. in the Cerrado, a savannah landscape in central Brazil. Macauba's low demand for precipitation and soil quality opens up the possibility of cultivating this palm on poor soil.

While the potential of the macauba palm is very promising, macauba oil is not currently used as a food. One reason for this is the poor quality of the crude oil. With acid values of over 20 mg KOH/g oil, sometimes even up to 50 mg KOH/g, the crude oil from the pressing of Macauba pulp has a high content of free fatty acids. In addition, the oil is often heavily oxidized after extraction and accordingly often contains very high levels of fat oxidation products (aldehydes, ketones, short-chain organic acids) that taste and smell bitter, grassy and beany. However, the quality of vegetable oils is of the utmost importance both for human consumption and for industrial processing in food. According to the Codex Alimentarius, cold-pressed ones are allowed Vegetable oils only have a maximum acid number of 4 mg KOH/g oil and a peroxide value of up to 15 milliequivalents peroxides/kg oil. This means that Macauba oil, extracted using the current state of the art, is largely inedible to humans.

Extensive refining of the oil could be a way out, but the stated acid numbers of over 20 mg KOH/g oil can lead to very high losses when refining the crude oil used. In addition, difficult or The often high degree of oxidation of the oil prevents bleaching using state-of-the-art methods (treatment with fuller's earth). Such processing of the crude oil is therefore not economically viable.

The harvest of the Macauba fruit has so far been based on cutting off the entire bunch of fruit from the trunk of the palm tree. It is very easy to carry out and simplifies the transport of the fruit, since the fruit is not harvested individually, but as a whole fruit bundle and transported. Although very labour-intensive, this process has so far been used almost exclusively.

When harvested using this method, the bunches of fruit are cut from the palm tree as a whole in one operation. To do this, the infructescence that has grown on the palm tree at a height of 2 to over 8 meters is cut off the trunk with a knife attached to a pole and falls to the ground. The infructescences are then collected and transported away. Individual fruits that fall off the fruit stand are also collected and sent for processing.

Since the fruits of the Macauba palm ripen unevenly, the bundle cut off in one step contains a proportion of unripe fruits, the 01 of which typically has a disproportionately high proportion of free fatty acids. The oils pressed from the pulp have so far had an unpleasant taste, limited functionality and a reduced shelf life. In addition, the consumption of oils with such a high proportion of free fatty acids and oxidation products such as aldehydes and ketones can result in undesirable side effects (eg diarrhea). For this reason, the production of technical products and biofuels is currently proposed almost exclusively as a use for Macauba oil.

In Grupioni et al. : Macaw palm supply chain: Evaluation of a semi-mechanized fruit harvesting system. In: Industrial Crops & Products 151, 2020, a new method for harvesting Macauba fruits is described. In this process, the fruit is knocked off the fruit bundles with the help of a vibrating device. This device consists of a two-stroke petrol engine connected to a 1.50 m long tubular rod and a fruit detachment system. The fruit detachment system consists of a cylinder head to which oscillating rods are attached. These oscillating sticks hit the fruit bundles and loosen individual fruits from the bundle with the hits. The detachment of the fruits is largely untargeted and statistically distributed, since the fruits that are hit directly by a stick are mostly detached and fall to the ground. A selection of fruits that are to be harvested e.g. due to their degree of ripeness is not possible with this method. Instead, fruits of different ripeness are knocked off the bundles with this harvesting device, since the hits of the oscillating rods cannot be controlled in a targeted manner. The operator of the Grupioni et al. is only slightly able to control the rods, so the degree of ripeness of the fruit varies greatly.

It is particularly disadvantageous that the blows of the oscillating sticks break the shells (epicarp) of the fruit according to the information damage the authors . The damage ranges from slight to severe, with a total of between 13.6% and 69.5% of the fruit being slightly or severely damaged after harvest. This means that a high proportion of the fruit has skin damage , a cracked surface or the flesh being exposed , leading to rapid spoilage .

Object of the present invention

The object of the present invention was to provide a cost-effective method with which it is possible to obtain high-quality oils from Macauba fruits, which oils are also suitable, among other things, for food.

Description of the invention

The object is achieved by the method for harvesting fruits of the Macauba palm according to patent claim 1 . Advantageous configurations of the method are the subject matter of the dependent patent claims or can be found in the following description.

The inventors of the proposed method have recognized that the harvest has a significant impact on the subsequent quality of the oil obtained from the Macauba fruit. With the harvesting method mainly used up to now, the heavy bundle of fruit usually falls to the ground from a great height and at high speed. With many fruits, this leads to the protective shell being damaged, e.g. T. breaks up, exposing the oil-rich mesocarp. This leads to direct contact of the oil with microorganisms from the fruit peel or from the soil as well as with atmospheric oxygen and thus to increased oxidation and hydrolysis of the lipids. Mechanical damage to mesocarpic tissue also releases endogenous lipolytic enzymes, thereby accelerating oil quality degradation. In addition, microorganisms can get inside the fruit, which leads to the hydrolysis of the oil due to the exogenous enzyme activity and thus to the formation of free fatty acids. Both effects lead to a severe deterioration in oil quality during transport, storage and processing. This problem is also addressed by the above-described Grupioni et al. unsolved .

In the proposed method, the fruits are separated from the fruit bundles still attached to the palm tree and collected. The method is characterized in that one or more catching or damping devices prevent the fruit from hitting the ground unchecked when separating the fruit. As a result, the skins of the fruit remain largely undamaged and the above problems are avoided. In the method, the catching or dampening devices are advantageously or optionally designed and/or arranged such that the fruits are also deflected when they hit the respective catching or dampening device and are preferably guided into a collecting or transport device. This keeps the fruit moving, which also reduces the risk of another fruit hitting a fruit that has already fallen from above. In particular, they are taken away immediately and are not left lying around.

In the method according to the invention, individual fruits are therefore harvested very gently from the infructescence, preferably individual fruits with a high degree of ripeness, so that the fruits have little or no superficial damage that would allow atmospheric oxygen and microorganisms to penetrate directly would . The above processes of increased oxidation and hydrolysis of the lipids and the formation of free fatty acids are thus largely avoided. This means that the fruit can be stored for a long time and the very gentle harvest makes it possible for a high-quality pressed pulp oil with a low acid content and a low degree of oxidation to be obtained with largely consistent quality, even with very large harvest quantities. Surprisingly, this way of harvesting, which is more complex than harvesting whole bundles, also leads to an economical and profitable production of high-quality Macauba oil, since far fewer free fatty acids have to be separated from the oil so that the oil yield increases significantly. In addition, due to the high storage stability of the fruit, processing can be carried out over a longer period of time. As a result, smaller systems can be used, which enable the same annual production volume as with shorter storage times with large systems. This saves investment costs.

Two preferred embodiments of the method according to the invention can be used to separate the individual fruits from the fruit bundles that have still grown on the palm tree. Enable detachment: an indirect momentum input or a superficial shear.

In the case of indirect impulse input, energy is introduced indirectly into the fruit with a suitable device through a single impulse or through several impulses along the nutrient supply line (root, trunk, axis of the bundle, branches of the bundle) of the fruit, without directly affecting the surface of the fruit ( Epikarp ) is struck and these are damaged or broken open in the process . The device transmits impulses to the trunk of the palm tree and/or to the stalk of the fruit bundle (central axis of the bundle) and/or to the side axes (branches leading away from the central axis) of the fruit bundle. These impulses, which are introduced into the fruit along the nutrient supply, finally reach the contact points where the fruits are attached to the bunch . The indirect impulse entry can also be done from the surface of the fruit bundle forth, for example by a cloth o. uh . or another element is placed around the bundle or attached to the surface of the bundle and attached to this cloth or element is pulled or shaken, or by using the superficial shear configuration described below, which can also result in an indirect momentum input. This indirect impulse or Depending on the intensity, energy input leads to the detachment of precisely those fruits that are no longer sufficiently firmly attached to the fruit bundle due to their advanced ripeness; the connection breaks and the fruit falls off the bundle.

It turns out that with several impulses and/or an intensity of the impulses that increases over time along the nutrient supply (stem-central axis-lateral axis) of the fruit, the degree of ripeness of the fruit that detaches from the fruit cluster increases over time or decreases with increasing intensity of the impulses. In the case of light impulses, the fully ripe fruits detach first, followed by less ripe fruits in the case of firmer impulses or longer duration of the impact of the impulses, up to still largely unripe fruits, which fall off the infructescence in the case of strong impulses or a very long duration of the impulse entry . This time delay according to the ripeness of the individual fruits makes it possible to catch or collect the fruits separately according to their degree of ripeness and thus to sort them.

When using the technique of superficial shearing, fruits that protrude from the surface of the bundles or that collectively form the surface of the bundles are sheared off. In this way, too, predominantly ripe fruits are separated. In this case, shearing is exerted along the surface of the fruit bundles, ie along the surface of the outer fruit layer of the bundles, e.g. B. through Rubbing along a brush, cloth, foil, net or the like, or by pulling a ring whose diameter is smaller than the largest diameter of the bunch of fruit, or by pulling with a comb-like gripper or other gripper, or by a other device that applies tension or shear along the surface of the bundles. The shearing can also be carried out by the action of one or more jets of water, by means of an air stream or by means of compressed air. In this way, the fruits arranged on the surface of the fruit bundles are predominantly sheared off. The ripe fruits arranged inside the bundles are separated indirectly from the surface by the input of impulses, the fruits which are not yet ripe at the time of ripening of the fruits lying on the outside remain on the bundle. The shearing process can advantageously be combined with the indirect introduction of impulses.

Since the content of free fatty acids in the oil of the fruit decreases during ripening, the oil content increases and the composition of the other fractions of the fruit also changes during ripening, a high quality can be achieved by preferentially harvesting the fruit according to their ripeness pulp oil , a lower proportion of free fatty acids and a high oil yield are achieved . In addition, the quality of the other fractions (soluble and insoluble roughage, nutritional ingredients (e.g. carotenoids)) can be improved and their composition standardized, which is important for industrial production with constant quality requirements.

With the method according to the invention for harvesting Macauba fruits, only individual fruits are collected, the bunch of fruits remains attached to the mother tree. This also prevents crushing of fruit from bunch-to-ground impact, saves energy during post-harvest and reduces the number of operations as only individual fruit is processed are treated and no separation and disposal of the bundles is necessary. This helps improve oil quality and economy during transportation, post-harvest and pre-processing.

The inventive method thus makes it possible to combine the harvest of the fruit with a sorting according to the properties of the fruit, and so the harvest either to maximize specific fisher properties of fractions such as ballaststof fen or aromas or to optimize the oil or biomass yield .

In addition, the preferred selective gentle harvesting according to the degree of ripeness can be used for a large number of other separation tasks, since the pulp of differently ripe fruits differs in terms of colour, composition and functionality of the fractions contained, such as oil or roughage. By preferential sorting according to maturity, roughage with the desired color or functionality can be obtained in a targeted manner. Separation according to other properties of the fruit, such as oil content or aroma, is also possible.

Therefore, when using the technology of indirect impulse input for separating the fruit, it is optionally and advantageously ensured that in the case of a harvest with increasing impulse intensity, the fruits are also sorted simultaneously according to the impulse intensity (and thus the degree of ripeness).

Sorting according to the chemical composition of the fruit can also be carried out. Contactless analysis methods for examining the surface of the fruit, such as infrared, near-infrared or laser light, are then advantageously used for this purpose, which are integrated directly into the sorting system or connected to it. In an advantageous embodiment of the harvesting method according to the invention, when using the technology of indirect impulse input, the harvesting process does not take place at a single point in time, but several times and at different times over a longer period of time (several hours to several weeks). Only part of the fruit is harvested during the first harvest, namely the part that detaches from the infructescence with light to medium impulses. A second harvest takes place after a few hours to days, advantageously after 1 day to 120 days, particularly advantageously after 1 day to 50 days, even more advantageously after 5 to 30 days or after 5 to 14 days, in which a second ripe fraction is harvested .

This process can finally be repeated until the infructescences are harvested and the empty bundles can be cut off the palm tree. This makes it possible to harvest almost exclusively ripe fruit, since the fruit that was initially unripe in the first harvesting step can be ripened later on the fruit bundle. It was recognized here that the ripening of different bunches of fruit in the same Macauba tree can take place very unevenly. The different bundles of the Macauba tree and also the individual fruits in a bundle can ripen over several weeks.

The harvesting method according to the invention is advantageously combined with careful collection, transport, stabilization and storage of the fruit. The transport is designed in such a way that the fruit is not damaged, after which the fruit's own enzymes are preferably inactivated and the fruit is gently dried.

In the proposed method, the severed or detached fruit is gently slowed down by one or more catch or damping devices (damping of the impact). Nets, foils, fabric flakes, etc. can be used as catching or dampening devices. are used . But other techniques aimed at slowing down the speed of the detached fruit or serve to reduce the conversion of kinetic energy into deformation energy, can be used, e.g. by collecting or damping devices made of foam or soft mats. The fruits are preferably diverted to the respective collecting or damping device after they have been hit and are preferably automatically guided by gravity into a collecting or transport device, for example via one or more pipes, chutes, chutes or hoses.

When the method according to the invention is carried out, it is found that after harvesting only a small proportion of the fruits either have holes in the surface of the epicarp, which allow direct, rapid penetration of atmospheric oxygen, or only show damage without breaking the epicarp and thus the oxygen barrier of the reduce epicarp. This proportion is less than 13% by mass, advantageously less than 10% by mass, particularly advantageously less than 5% by mass, particularly advantageously less than 2% by mass, even better less than 1% by mass.

Various procedures are available for carrying out the harvesting method according to the invention, which can be carried out individually or in succession. A few are named below, each of which represents exemplary configurations or developments of the proposed method: a) separating individual fruits from the infructescence that has grown on the palm tree without hitting the skin of the fruit, e.g. by picking, manually with the hands or with a mechanical gripper, attached to a platform, a height-adjustable device or a drone, and/or b) separating individual fruits by shearing or applying one or more impulses or blows to the trunk of the palm tree and/or to the stalk of the fruit bundle (central axis of the bunch) and/or on the side axes (branches leading away from the central axis) of the fruit bunch, whereby the impulse(s) should have sufficient intensity to detach one or more fruits of the desired degree of ripeness from the infructescence, and c ) Catch the separated fruit with the catch or steaming device.

A sorting or cleaning of the fruit from small impurities, leaves or insects can advantageously be integrated into the catching or dampening device. For example, collection nets can be used whose meshes are so narrow that the fruit is held back, but which are wide enough for fine dirt or insects to fall through and thus be separated from the fruit. This separation of foreign matter (leaves, insects, etc .) can be improved by an additional movement of the net or another catching or dampening device (e .g . shaking) . Sieves or devices for air classification integrated into the catching or steaming device can also contribute to a pre-cleaning of the fruit. Further refinements for cleaning and size classification are possible.

In the proposed method, the catch or damping device is preferably built and/or arranged in such a way that the fruit keeps moving, so that the fruit z. B. are transported away by gravity due to an inclination of the device and do not remain below the fruit bundles. This reduces the risk of a fruit lying in the catching or dampening device being hit and damaged by a fruit that follows.

In the case of the separation of the fruits by indirect input of impulse is in the generation of the impulse or the several impulses by hitting it with a solid object or by shaking it with an amplitude and a frequency, to ensure that this energy input does not damage the trunk and other parts of the palm tree, but is sufficient to release one or more fruits from the infructescence. The periodically triggered impulse can be generated, for example, by an eccentrically arranged device on the trunk of the palm tree (e.g. shaking, vibrating organ). It can also be attached to a support attached to the trunk, such as a clamp, band or ring, e.g. B. a pull rope or a rod can be attached to which or . attacking an alternate force. It has been shown that the damage to the palm is less if the attachment of the holder or the shaker is arranged higher up on the trunk or acts directly on the central axis of the fruit cluster. For example, the defined amplitude of an oscillation of the trunk could lead to tensile stresses at the lower end of the trunk, which puts a strain on the root system. These stresses are all the lower if the device or Holder - excited with identical amplitude - is arranged further up on the tight or on the axis of the fruit bundle. The momentum input into the stem should therefore best be above half the height between the top of the fruit bunch and the ground, advantageously above 70%, better above 90%, particularly advantageously above 100% of the height. The further up the device or holder for transmitting the impulses is arranged, the lower the energy input required for the harvest and the less damage occurs to the palm tree. This advantageous embodiment also makes it possible to extend the lifespan of Macauba palms, since fruits can also be collected from older and often very tall palms. This prevents the use of harmful practices such as the felling of young palm trees.

The proposed method allows the extraction of oil with high oil quality from the harvested fruit by the Fruits are gently caught after they have been separated from the infructescence. Gentle means that mechanical damage to the fruit is largely avoided. This can be achieved with the catch and damping devices used, for example,

• by using a catching or dampening device equipped with sloping or rounded walls in the form of a funnel, a

) sacks , a hemisphere open at the top o . uh . used, where the geometry of the device contributes to slowing down the speed of the fruit and/or

• the catching or dampening device is made of a soft material (cloth, net, foam, etc.) at least in the area where the fruit hits, so that the deformation of this material gently brakes the fall and /or

• by attaching the catching or damping device below but very close to the lower end of the fruit stand, so that the mean fall height of the fruit (arithmetic mean of the fall height of all fruits in the fruit bundle) is a maximum of 2 meters, preferably less than 1 meter, better below 50 cm is reduced.

The catching or damping device is preferably designed and/or arranged in such a way that the fruit is deflected when it hits the ground and the fruit that has already been caught is thus simultaneously transported away, e.g. B. by a sloping surface or a leading hose or gutter.

With the proposed method, damage to the fruit during harvest is significantly reduced or even avoided. Harvesting Macauba fruit according to the invention reduces the proportion of fruit with light damage (damage that injures the epicarp without damaging it break up but reduce the oxygen barrier) to below 8.4%, better below 5%, even better below 3%, most advantageously below 1%. Harvesting in accordance with the invention reduces severe damage to Macauba fruit (damage that injures the epicarp and exposes the mesocarp and thus puts it in direct contact with the air) to levels below 4%, more preferably below 2%, advantageously below 1%, particularly advantageously below 0.5%. The gentle catch according to the proposed method enables a harvest that provides an almost intact group of fruits, so that oxidation and hydrolysis processes can only take place very slowly, which allows the fruits to last longer.

As an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, the fruits are pasteurized and/or dried after a few minutes to hours after the gentle harvest. It has been shown that drying of the fruit harvested according to the invention proceeds particularly homogeneously and gently with only very little damage to the fruit surface, which reduces energy consumption and increases the oil quality. A high storage stability can be achieved in this way. It is also advantageous for the later pressing process of the pulp to obtain the oil to take place at a low mean temperature (mean value of inlet temperature and outlet temperature from the press) below 80° C. A pulp oil can thus be obtained which has only very low acid numbers and, even as cold-pressed oil, has edible oil quality.

In this way, pressed oils can be obtained from the fruits carefully harvested according to the proposed method, the acid number of which is better, even without refining, below 10 mg KOH/g oil, particularly advantageously below 5 mg KOH/g oil, particularly advantageously below 2 mg KOH/g oil is below 1 mg KOH/g 01 . The pressed oil from fruits harvested according to the invention has a peroxide value below 10 milliequivalents O 2 /kg oil, advantageously below 7 milliequivalent O 2 /kg oil, particularly advantageously below 5 or below 3 milliequivalent O 2 /kg oil, better below 1 milliequivalent O 2 /kg O 1 . This means that the careful harvesting of Macauba fruit according to the invention results in pressed oils suitable for human consumption. After refining, these acid number values can be further reduced. It turns out that when refining such a crude oil, only very small amounts of separated free fatty acids and odorous substances occur as side streams. In addition, due to the moderate to low degree of oxidation of the oil, bleaching according to the prior art can easily be carried out. This helps to significantly reduce refining costs and greatly increase the efficiency of the refining process. In addition, the low acid numbers and degrees of oxidation enable the chemical refining of the oil, a comparatively gentle process compared to physical refining by means of steam destination at temperatures >250°C in a high vacuum. Thus, the formation of trans fatty acids can be significantly reduced due to the invention during the refining process.

When separating the fruits by indirect impulse input, the impulse input is carried out in an advantageous embodiment in such a way that fruits with different degrees of ripeness are separated. This is controlled by the duration of the pulse application or by gradually increasing the pulse intensity, either by controlling the frequency and/or amplitude during harvest. This makes it possible to separate the fruits in the field according to their degree of ripeness and to feed them into different processing methods depending on their degree of ripeness. With a low to mild pulse intensity, the ripe fruits can be separated in a first step and processed into edible and edible oil with a particularly high yield, high oil quality and appealing sensory properties. Medium-ripe fruit can be harvested by applying longer pulses or by increasing the intensity of the pulse, by increasing the frequency and/or the amplitude. The pulp of medium-ripe Macauba fruits has a very low oil content and a particularly balanced relationship between aroma, functionality and fiber content. Surprisingly, the dietary fiber concentrates from medium-ripe fruits have better functional sensory properties and higher brightness values. This product can be used to make savory drinks, ice creams and desserts. The method described here therefore makes it possible to convert the disadvantage of the prior art of the wide distribution of degrees of ripeness in a bundle into an advantage by separating the differently ripe fruits according to their degree of ripeness and using the fractions with maximum added value. This is not possible with today's state-of-the-art harvesting methods.

A device for carrying out the harvest according to the invention according to one or more preferred embodiment variants can consist of several units which can be designed in a modular design as individual units or combined to form a system. These units are :

- Optional: device for indirect impulse input, in particular for the introduction of one or more impulses in the trunk or in other parts of the palm along the nutrient supply of the fruit. This can be designed as a gripper or as a holder (ring that can be opened and easily closed), e.g. B. as a band (with a loop or hook) that is placed around the trunk or around the infructescence or around parts of the infructescence and e.g. B. is stimulated to vibrate via a rope. Other possible designs for energy input are stamps, beaters, etc. , which do not involve the trunk or infructescence but by periodic blows on the trunk or the junction between palm and Bring in the impulse in the desired strength with the fruit clusters.

- In connection with this optional device: vibrating element, which is either arranged directly on or under the device or attached to it or is connected to the device in a spatially separated manner. The mechanical vibration can be generated by various mechanisms. Simple systems such as pulling and/or pushing with a cable or lever, operated manually or automatically, can be used for this purpose. In addition, other vibration mechanisms, such as rotating systems, eccentric systems, Scotch-Yoke or multiple eccentric systems, can also be used for the vibration element.

- Catching or dampening device: It is designed to gently catch the fruit that falls from the bunch of fruits during harvest. It can advantageously be combined with the above device for indirect impulse input. The catch or dampening device is preferably made of a soft material such as plastic, fabric, a net or foam. It covers an area under one or all of the infructescences of the palm tree and can take various forms such as a straight wall, an inverted screen, an inverted cone or an inverted cup to ensure that any fruit falling from the infructescence is caught can become . The positioning of the collecting device can be done manually or with an automated process. In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the catching device has the shape of a funnel. In this, the fruits are first caught after a low drop and then move downwards in a controlled manner and at low speed through the funnel, where they are collected, for example, in a container as a collection device. A further advantageous catch device is similar in terms of its spatial arrangement to a sloping hammock or gutter, which on the one hand catches the falling fruit in one central sink and due to the slope of the sink leads to a gravimetric removal of the fruit from the sink. The material of the catching device particularly advantageously comprises a soft cloth or a net.

- Optional: Device for transporting the fruit from the collection or steaming device. The actuating mechanism of the transport element is matched to the geometry of the catch or damping device. If the catch device z. B. is a rectangular plastic tarpaulin that is placed under the palm tree, the transport can also take place through the tarpaulin itself, in that it is converted into a kind of conveyor belt with a set of pulling and moving elements, with which the fruit is transported further manually or automatically . In this way, the collecting device can be extended to collect the fruit and used to transport the fruit to a storage container. In the implementation similar to an inverted umbrella z. B. the fruits collected during harvest are discharged from the lowest point of the inverted screen through a hole into a chute or hose and transported to a storage container. In this case, the transport can be effected by the action of gravity or can be assisted with the help of pneumatic devices or traction elements that contribute to the pneumatic transport of the fruit or with the help of other conveying elements into the storage container.

- Storage container, advantageously with different compartments, in which a fraction or differently ripe fe fractions are collected and made available for transport.

- Optional : propulsion unit that propels the above devices from palm to palm.

The techniques described above and related

Devices for gently separating the individual fruits from The fruit bundles still attached to the palm tree (indirect impulse entry or superficial shearing) can also be used independently of the method for harvesting Macauba fruits proposed according to patent claim 1, also in connection with the subsequent preferred sorting of the fruits according to their degree of ripeness.

As already explained above, cold-pressed oils with an acid number of less than 10 mg/g, advantageously less than 5 mg/g, particularly advantageously less than 2 mg/g, better less than 1 mg/g and a peroxide number below 10 milliequivalent peroxide/kg oil, advantageously below 7 milliequivalent peroxide/kg oil, particularly advantageously below 5 or below 3 milliequivalent peroxide/kg oil, better below 1 milliequivalent peroxide/kg oil. Refined Macauba oil can be obtained with an acid number of less than 0.6 mg/g, advantageously less than 0.5 mg/g, particularly advantageously less than 0.3 mg/g.

The pressed oil from the mild and gentle harvest carried out according to the invention has a very good quality and low proportions of disruptive substances. This oil can be refined either chemically or physically with minimal losses. The yield after the oil refining is over 80%, better over 85%, particularly well over 90%, particularly advantageously over 95%, based on the mass fed to the refining. Since the oil quality is already very high prior to refining, minimal refining is required, which can result in high levels of bioactive compounds such as carotene and tocopherols being retained. The carotene content in the refined oil from the fruits harvested according to the invention is higher than 10 pg/g, preferably higher than 50 pg/g, advantageously higher than 100 pg/g, advantageously higher than 200 pg/g, particularly advantageously higher than 300 pg/g g . The refined oil from the gentle harvesting process according to the invention also has preferably a total tocopherol content of over 10 mg/kg, better over 50 mg/kg, advantageously over 100 mg/kg, particularly advantageously over 200 mg/kg to higher than 300 mg/kg. Therefore, the crop of the invention provides refined oils with good quality and high content of bioactive compounds, which contributes to their functionality, shelf life and nutritional value, and the oil can be used as a high-quality edible oil.

analytical methods

- Acid number: The acid number (AN) is a chemical parameter used to quantify the content of free fatty acids in fats or oils. It is given as the mass of potassium hydroxide (in mg) that is necessary to neutralize the free fatty acids contained in 1 g of fat. Acid number is measured according to AOCS Official Method Cd 3d-63.

- Peroxide value: The peroxide value (PV) is a chemical parameter used to quantify the oxidation of lipids in fats and oils. The PV measures the concentration of substances (in milliequivalents of peroxide per kg of oil) that oxidize potassium iodide to iodine. The PV can be measured according to AOCS Official Method Cd 8-53 or according to AOCS Official Method Cd 8b-90.

- Carotene content: The total content of carotenoids is measured spectrophotometrically after diluting 1 g oil in 100 mL ultrapure hexane. An absorption coefficient A1%1 cm of 2580 in high-purity n-hexane is used, measured at 450 nm.

- The total tocopherols are determined according to the official AOCS method Ce 8-86.

- Percentage of damage: After collection/harvest, 50 fruits are removed and examined for surface damage. Light damage includes damage that has crushed the epicarp without breaking it. Severe damage includes damage where the epicarp has been crushed and the mesocarp has been exposed. The classified fruits with light and severe damage are counted and the proportion of damage is expressed as a % of the original sample (50 fruits).

Claims

Method for harvesting fruits of the Macauba palm, which carries one or more fruit bundles with the fruits, in which the fruits are separated and collected from the fruit bundles still attached to the palm tree, characterized in that when the fruits are separated, an unrestrained impact of the Fruit is prevented from falling onto the ground by one or more catching or damping devices, the catching or damping devices being optionally configured and/or arranged such that the fruit are deflected onto the respective receiving or damping device when they hit the ground. Method according to Claim 1 , characterized in that the fruits are guided into a collecting or transport device after they have hit the respective catching or dampening device . Method according to claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the separation is effected by indirect impulse input into the fruits and / or superficial shearing of the fruits protruding from the surface of the fruit clusters or collectively forming the surface of the fruit clusters . Method according to Claim 3, characterized in that the indirect impulse input is carried out by transmitting a single impulse or several impulses to the trunk of the palm tree and/or on the stalk of the fruit cluster and/or on lateral axes of the fruit cluster, whereby energy is indirectly introduced into the fruit along a nutrient supply line of the fruit without directly striking the surface of the fruit. Method according to Claim 4, characterized in that the indirect pulse entry is carried out by transmitting a plurality of pulses in chronological order, preferably with an amplitude and/or frequency which increases over time, and the separated fruits are sorted according to time windows in which they are stored during the transmission the pulses have been separated . Method according to Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the transmission of the single or multiple pulses to the trunk of the palm tree takes place above half a height between an upper end of the fruit clusters and the ground, advantageously above 70%, better above 90%, particularly advantageously above 100% of this level. Method according to claim 3 , characterized in that the indirect impulse input takes place from the surface of the fruit bunch without hitting the surface of the fruit directly . Method according to one of Claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the superficial shearing is carried out by mechanical action along the surface of the outer fruit layer of the fruit bundles, without hitting the surface of the fruit directly, in particular by brushing along, a cloth, a foil or by pulling a ring the diameter of which is smaller than the diameter of the fruit bundle, or by pulling with a comb-like gripper, or by the action of one or more jets of water, or by means of compressed air. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 8 , characterized in that the fruits separated from the fruit bundles are sorted according to degree of ripeness . Method according to one of Claims 1 to 9 , characterized in that the fruit is separated off in several harvesting processes which take place at intervals of between several hours and several weeks . The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the catch or damping device (s) is attached below the j eweiligen fruit bundle or. be that an average fall height of the fruit is a maximum of 2 meters, advantageously less than 1 meter, better less than 50 cm. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 11, characterized in that catching or damping devices are used which are funnel-shaped with a discharge channel, in particular a discharge pipe or hose, through which the fruit is discharged and/or into a collection or Transport device are managed. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 12, characterized in that catching or damping devices are used which are formed from a material which is soft and/or elastic and/or flexible at least on one collecting surface. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 13, characterized in that catching or damping devices are used which are formed from one or more nets, foils, fabric flakes or mats. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the fruits are pasteurized and/or dried a few minutes to hours after the harvest. Use of the fruits harvested by a method of said claims 1 to 15 for the production of pressed unrefined and/or refined Macauba oils.